Dark Matter #4
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Cover Page DarkIssue Four Matter July 2011 SF, Fantasy & Art [email protected] Dark Matter Issue Four July 2011 SF, Fantasy & Art [email protected] Dark Matter Contents: Issue 4 Dark Matter Stuff 1 News & Articles 7 Gun Laws & Cosplay 7 Troopertrek 2011 8 Hugo Award Nominees 10 2010 Aurealis Awards 14 2011 Aurealis Awards to be held in Sydney again 15 2011 Ditmar Awards 16 2011 Chronos Awards 20 Renovation WorldCon 22 Iron Sky update 28 Art by Ben Grimshaw 30 Ebony Rattle as Electra, Art by Ben Grimshaw 31 The Girl in the Red Hood is Back … But She’s a Little Different 32 Launching & Gaining Velocity 34 Geek and Nerd 35 Peacemaker - A Comic Book 36 Continuum 7 Report 38 Starcraft 2 - Prae.ThorZain 46 Good Friday Appeal 50 FAQ about the writing of Machine Man, by Max Barry 65 J. Michael Straczynski says... 67 Interviews 69 Kevin J. Anderson talks to Dark Matter 69 Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson talk to Dark Matter 78 Simon Morden talks to Dark Matter 106 Paul Bedford talks to Dark Matter 115 Cathy Larsen talks to Dark Matter 131 Madeleine Roux talks to Daniel Haynes 142 Chewbacca is Coming 146 Greg Gates talks to Dark Matter 153 Richard Harland talks to Dark Matter 165 Letters 173 Anime/Animation 176 The Sacred Blacksmith Collection 176 Summer Wars 177 Evangelion 1.11 You are [not] alone 178 Evangelion 2.22 You can [not] advance 179 Book Reviews 180 The Razor Gate 180 Angelica 181 2 issue four The Map of Time 182 Die for Me 183 The Gathering 184 The Undivided 186 the twilight saga: the official illustrated guide 188 Rivers of London 189 Moon over Soho 190 The Rogue 192 The Game: The Valley 193 The Legion 194 Branded by Fire 195 Dead Reckoning 196 Romanitas 197 Passion 198 America Pacifica 200 The Conqueror’s Shadow 201 The Tiger’s Wife 202 Witches of the East 203 Hellhole 205 Power and Majesty 207 Deadline 208 Divergent 210 The Devil’s Diadem 212 Hit List 213 Heartless 214 American Gods 215 Blaze of Memory 216 The Glass House 218 Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat 220 Primary & Middle School Books 221 Hell’s Bells 221 Grim and Grimmer: The Desperate Dwarf 222 Novels, Graphic and otherwise 223 Game Gambit 223 Graphic Novel Reviews 224 The List (MA 15+) 224 The Silence 226 Movie Mayhem 227 Thor 227 Monsters 228 A Million 230 Valhalla Rising 231 3 Dark Matter A Town Called Panic 232 Metropolis 234 Short Stories 235 All the Clowns in Clowntown 235 TV Series 236 Art & Soul 236 Game of Thrones 239 Club Information 242 Dark Matter Volunteers 248 Credits for dark matter Issue 3 Corrections Editor: Cathy Larsen pointed out that she Nalini Haynes is the designer of the covers for the Obernewtyn Chronicles, not the Tales Proof reading: from the Tower Volume one, the Wilful Edward Haynes Eye. Zoe Sadokeiski is the designer of Richard Snow The Wilful eye, and very beautiful job Contributors: she did too, says Cathy. Andy Thanks Cathy! apologies to Zoe. - Chris Garcia Editor Clare Elaine Daniel Haynes Darren Maxwell In the cover letter for Issue 3, I briefly Elyse Taylor acknowledged the passing of Diana Jade Hounsell Wynne-Jones and misspelt her name. Kristian Goree Steve Green was kind enough to point Lloyd Penney this out. My apologies to the memory of Max Barry Diana, Diana’s family, friends and fans. MSFC - Editor Michelle Kasparian New Melbourne Browncoats Art: Nalini Haynes Rebel Legion Ben Grimshaw Spaced Out Inc. Ian Gunn’s Silly Illoes used with Star Walking permission of Krin Pender-Gunn Steve Cameron Images attributed where known 501st Legion Photography: Various, attributed individually where Cover Art & Design: known, usually Nalini Haynes if not Cathy Larsen’s Obernewtyn Chronicles attributed. illustration (see the interview with Volunteers’ photos are courtesy of the Cathy), gouache on paper volunteers. 4 issue four About Dark Matter Dark Matter is an independent fanzine exploring science fiction, fantasy, art, life, the universe and everything. For your free subscription to Dark Matter, e-mail [email protected] with the word ‘subscribe’ in the subject field. E-mail addresses will be considered confidential and will not be used for any purpose other than distribution. Dark Matter is available online at the Australian National Library Archives http:// nla.gov.au/nla.arc-123161 and at www.efanzines.com/DarkMatter/index.htm. The State Library of Victoria also makes Dark Matter available in paper format. Follow Dark Matter on Facebook at www.facebook.com/darkmatterfanzine. Snail Mail to Dark Matter, PO Box 144, Lynbrook, Victoria, Australia 3975. Copyright belongs to contributors and reverts to contributors on publication. Photos, images and text from other sources are used on what I understand to be fair usage within the laws of copyright. This is my intent; any issues or concerns should be directed to the editor at [email protected]. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the editor. This is a fanzine, and as such is a forum for personal opinions and debate. However, the editor reserves the right to refuse to publish material that may be offensive. Dark Matter likes to give credit for contributions and sources for each issue. If errors or omissions have been made, please e-mail the editor. Uncredited text is probably the editor. While I hope to respond to correspondence, this is not guaranteed. Flamers and senders of dubious or explicit content will be put on a blocked senders list and removed from the distribution list. Thanks to all the readers who are contacting Dark Matter with news, letters and invites to events that I hope will enrich the content of DM. And the photos! Facebook is an awesome source of photos and links to sites. Thanks guys! If at any time I don’t give credit or tag the photos properly, email me and I’ll issue a correction. I appreciate your contributions, and I want to get it right (Heinz Meanz Beanz Goodies quote). Review Gradings Not every review will have a grading, but when reviews are graded Dark Matter tries to be consistent. Therefore, where gradings are given, they will hopefully be consistent with the below rating system: 1 star - Very bad book/movie/game, many flaws, definitely not recommended. 2 stars - Mediocre or average with a serious flaw, not recommended, but can still be readable or watchable 3 stars - Good but not great. Can be recommended for fans of the genre. 4 stars - Great, highly recommended. 5 stars - Masterpiece. 5 Dark Matter Editorial Dear Reader Well, it’s that time again, when Dark Matter finally goes out into the ether. Some have wondered why Dark Matter; the answer - I believe an independent zine will help build networks in the SF and Fantasy community. There are a huge number of zines out there, but I’m hoping DM provides a different focus with its news, interviews and reviews based in Melbourne. You might notice that this issue is bigger than every other issue. The Dark Matter committee (of one) has met several times to discuss and debate the pros and cons of more frequent issues. The size of each issue has persuaded the committee in favour of bi-monthly publication, from September onwards (hopefully), in order to keep the zine within zine-ish size rather than aim for encyclopedic size. On the topic of file size - Dark Matter has received numerous emails in response to the previous 3 issues, asking for more pictures to be included. I assure you, I have been listening. Unfortunately I had to remove numerous images for this issue to keep the file size below 5 MB. Publishing more regularly will mean more images, getting a better balance between file size and pics! I would like to thank the numerous people I’ve interviewed in the past few months. Conducting interviews for publication has been a huge learning curve for me, so thanks to all who helped me along the way. While I hope I now have the basics down, I’m sure I’ll continue to learn as I interview more people for future issues. A special thanks to David Freer and Bruce Mutard, whose interviews will be in the next issue of Dark Matter. They graciously consented to interviews but, well, I had space issues... Publishing houses such as Hachette, Harper Collins, Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Allen & Unwin have generously provided books for review. Madman has provided DVDs for review. Thank you all! You may note that this issue of Dark Matter sees some new reviewers come on board. I can’t possibly keep up with the number of books available to review, so I’ve been sharing the responsibility around. Many enjoy reading novels, but reviewing novels, especially when the review will be published, is not such a popular pastime. So heartfelt thanks goes out to all the reviewers. And thanks to the proof readers - another difficult task. Finally I would like to thank readers for their encouragement, their feedback and their support. cheers, Nalini 6 issue four News & Articles Gun Laws & Cosplay Australia has gun laws that laws vary from state to state. Some laws have caused difficulties for cosplayers. I heard of one person who was arrested and charged for carrying an imitation firearm in a backpack that was poking out the top, while sitting in a coffee shop. Another person recently attended Critical Hit’s opening sale in costume with an imitation firearm in a thigh holster, resulting in police attendance. If you intend to purchase, carry or sell imitation firearms in Victoria, you need to have an authority from Victoria Police.